Opposite regulation effects of Al3+ on different types of carbon quantum dots and potential applications in information encryption

Abstract

Regulating the photoluminescence (PL) of carbon quantum dots (CQDs) through ion modification is a well-established and effective approach. Herein, we report the opposite regulation effects of Al³⁺ ions on the PL properties of two distinct types of CQDs (graphene quantum dots, GQDs, and nitrogen-doped carbon quantum dots of 2,3-diaminophenazine, DAP), and elucidate the underlying mechanism of the binding of Al³⁺ ions to different PL sites on CQDs by employing ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and density functional theory calculations. Specifically, Al³⁺ ions are primarily situated around the oxygen-containing groups, which do not impact the π–π regions of GQDs. However, Al³⁺ ions are preferentially adsorbed on the top of pyridine nitrogen in the phenazine rings of DAP, thus reducing the PL regions of DAP. Based on the opposite PL effects of Al³⁺ on GQDs and DAP, we explore potential applications of information encryption and successfully realize multi-level information encryption and decryption, which may provide new strategies for CQDs in information security.